A world outside
by Slarrab
Summary: Being new in school is tough anywhere. Trying to fit in but not fit in at McKinley for McKenna Bringhurst makes for a rough transition. Competing with Rachel in singing, Quinn for a guy, and herself to figure out what she really wants in life is a lot to handle. Not to mention holding a decent GPA. (I'll work on my summarizing!)
1. Chapter 1

**Just a few notes!**

**This is my first published fan fic! I don't say this to dodge any due criticism. in fact, i demand it. I welcome all comments and please please please review and tell me how I can improve. I think I can only go up from here especially in structure and punctuation :D**

**Also, in this story a few things are different than in the show. I have evened out the ages of a few of the characters which I have used from the original cast. (I include Sam in this) Unless stated, I assume they are all juniors at McKinley. Some relationships may not have been recognized and I hope I clarify it in the text. I will apologize up front for any mistakes or inaccuracies as I think I've only seen 'Glee' season 1-2 once so I may forget stuff or not cite that it isn't in my story! Let me know in your reviews! Thanks so much!**

**Disclaimer: I do not claim or have any affiliation with the references and characters of Glee. This fan fiction was not intended for any personal gain, only for entertainment purposes and fan appreciation. All characters and references of Glee belong to Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation etc. Also I do not claim any other references to pop-culture.**

Swerving, Brittany rounded the nose of the old yellow truck at the intersection, missing it by inches. Horns blasted and brakes screeched. She screamed and pulled her car back into the correct lane shakily. With wide eyes she looked back through the rear window of her little car then at Sam who was grasping the door and dashboard of the passenger seat beside her.

"Did you see that old farmer try to hit me?" she asked, her voice shaking.

Sam closed his eyes and tried to calm his breathing then replied, "Um, Brit, that was a two way stop. The stop sign was on your street. You kinda didn't stop at all."

Her forehead creased in confusion Brittany murmured, "Oh. I thought that it was telling me that they had to stop..."

Mckenna threw the old Chevy truck into neutral and let the engine die out. Sitting back she watched out the window anxiously as hordes of high school kids filtered through the parking lot towards William McKinley High School.

"Think you parked far enough away?" teased the boy next to her. "We could park back at the gas station just off the freeway if you want."

Mckenna made a face and unbuckled her seatbelt. "Don't tempt me Torri. Besides, you've seen how these Lima people drive. Can't have them dinging up my baby." She pronounced the 'i' in Lima with a long 'e'. The truck had to be the oldest car in the lot and it showed.

Grinning the boy opened the door and jumped out energetically.

McKenna sighed and pushed her door open, sliding to the ground. She was not nervous she decided, just not in the mood for first-school-day drama. She adjusted the hem of her long, tight t-shirt she wore with her favorite trucker hat, the brim 'hick-housed' into a point. Her baggy jeans had so many holes in them that if she hadn't stitched the weird little random patches onto it they would probably fall into a pile on the ground. This would leave only the belt and an unnecessarily large belt buckle.

Torri reached in the open bed of the truck, pulling out two back packs. McKenna noted he wore the same as he always did, standard guy outfit: jeans and a t-shirt pulled over his broad shoulders.

He handed one of the packs to her as she met him around the side of the truck and he started towards the building. When he noticed she didn't move he went back and began to drag her by the arm. He was all of six feet 2 inches tall, dwarfing her 5 foot 3 inches, he had obviously stolen all the height genes in the family.

"Come on Mckee, don't start acting your age on me now. It's just another new school Sis."

Allowing herself to be dragged Mckenna frowned her rebuttal. "Not only that, but they're two weeks into it already. Pecking orders aren't quite set but by now there's only room at the bottom."

"Hey it's my senior year how do you think I feel? At least the football coach said I can try out for the team still." Torri led the way through the cars.

"Technically it's mine too." Mckenna mumbled.

"That's your own fault for graduating early. Besides, you still need a ton of elective credits and Dad said you had to do something else rather than be a recluse in the art dept. I don't see why you don't join the choir."

Rolling her eyes Mckenna snorted. "OK, so I know you've never been in a school choir in your life. It's all one person trying to out-sing the other and who can play teacher's pet the best. It's like all out war of the prima donas."

"Well you could do drums or try bass. You should really do music McKee, you love it." Torri suggested as they neared the front of the HS.

"Maybe." she considered and left it at that.

It was a long walk and they earned more than just one scrutinizing glare as people passed by them.

A group of red, white, and black uniformed cheerleaders made no attempt to hide their giggling and pointing at her as she passed their car. "Grunge is dead." McKenna heard one of them jeer.

Grinning she looked at Torri who smiled back. "It's vagrant redneck style I thought." she contested snootily.

He shook his head and reached over to slap the brim of her hat down into her face. "At least you subdued that mop of yours." he teased.

Mckenna pushed back a stray blonde strand of hair that had escaped what could barely be called a bun at the nape of her neck. The hair tie strained to hold the unruly mane and it was already unraveling. Her hair was down to her waist if it was permitted to hang in it's loose waves and natural tight curls at the ends. It was totally impractical but she shrugged. "Hey I'm going to make you a sweater for Christmas out of it someday."

As they joined the rest of the river of students flowing into the front doors, some turned to look at them with unabashed curiosity. Torri didn't seem to care and he scanned the crowd with satisfaction. "Yeah, there's some decent looking girls here. I think we're good."

"Oh brilliant well everything is fine then." Mckenna chimed facetiously and pulled her class schedule out of her side bag to study it.

"K well, I've got to go this way but I'll meet ya for lunch OK?" Torri rubbed the back of his closely shaven head subconsciously.

Mckenna smiled and nodded, then she reached up for a hug. He bent down and lifted her off the ground, swinging her dangling legs from side to side.

"Oh I'm going to check out the team right after school so don't ditch me." he put her down and added, "Take care of yourself."

She nodded and watched him go, his head bobbing above most of the others so she could see him until he turned a few hallways down. She knew she didn't have to worry about him. He was naturally likable and probably pretty good looking and that's what counts in high school anyway. Sighing she began to walk to where she hoped her first class was. She had found them all when they had visited the Principal, Mr. Figgins the Friday prior. Now, maybe it was nerves, she was unsure. Pulling out a map and looking lost was just asking for trouble so she just walked casually in the direction she hoped was correct.

Turning a corner she bumped shoulders roughly with a dark haired girl with large brown eyes. "Sorry." they said in unison, but the girl's expression went from customary civility to, for lack of a better description, 'what the heck is that?' as she assessed McKenna.

Then suddenly the girl gasped as two passing boys sloshed a red colored slushie onto her front. Some of it splashed onto Mckenna's shoulder who had began to walk again.

_'Great,'_ McKenna thought, '_I bear the community mark of the geek.'_

She stopped and turned to the other girl who had borne the brunt of the attack and was now wiping at the front of her strangely patterned sweater and short skirt frantically. Before Mckenna could ask if she was OK the girl scurried off with a look of horror on her face.

Brushing off the slushie residue from her own shoulder, Mckenna continued back down the hallway.

At last she found the room number for her first period, took a deep breath and walked in confidently. There seemed to be no teacher up front but the long tables of computers were almost filled by the average tech nerd.

With a casual smile on her face Mckenna headed for the closest empty seat. It was second to the end of a row. On the inner side sat a wired looking kid with frizzy red hair and glasses who frowned at her approach. On the outside seat, a slender girl, about the same build as Mckenna, with a mousy blonde ponytail who tried to avoid eye contact with her. Yes she was used to this, and the shunning was almost comforting in its consistency in every public school she had been to.

Pulling out the chair she said formally, "Hi, mind if I sit?" she stuffed her bag under the desk and did so without consent.

The boy spoke up. "It's taken actually. Besides, shouldn't you come back when no one's here to case and rob the room?"

There was a ripple of giggles from the rest of the kids.

Mckenna shrugged. "Well I forgot my ski mask today so I guess I'll just sit in on the class. You may want to put your phone out of reach though, sometimes I can't help myself."

The response was sporadic but there were a few giggles at her remark as well. He just glared at her but the other girl spoke up, barely. "You can sit here. No one is sitting here."

Mckenna nodded her thanks, even though she had already sat down.

A pasty looking man entered with a laptop under his arm and a scowl on his face. He went to the front and began to plug cords onto the laptop and switch on an overhead as the bell rang.

"OK you all did decently on the last coding assignment but there's going to be a huge difference between chapter two and chapter three so please pay attention..."

He turned around and caught sight of McKenna. "I'm sorry who are you?"

"McKenna Bringhurst, I just transferred in?"

"From a bad 90's music video." came a disconnected voice from somewhere in the room. Everyone laughed and the teacher raised his hand and shushed at them. "Quiet or I'll do the weekend quiz right now."

He raised an eyebrow and picked up an attendance sheet.

"Yes I see. Well you do know this is advanced computer systems right? It's not how to use a word processor or spreadsheet and what to do if angry birds won't work."

The giggles were more controlled this time.

"Yes that's alright, we're supposed to be covering modern system organization, architecture and operations including I/O, pipelining and memory hierarchies. I'm more of a plants vs. zombies person anyway." McKenna assured him.

Clearly surprised he looked at her for a moment then nodded, "OK then. Lets get started. Hats off please and I'll bring you the assignments you've missed during the lab section."

The girl next to her was still looking at her in surprise and McKenna gave her an awkward smile. When the bell rung again, the class lurched for the door.

The girl McKenna sat next to jogged to catch up with her as they spilled out into the crowded hall. "Hey thanks for helping me with that algorithm analysis." she said with a shy smile.

McKenna nodded, putting her hat on slightly crooked. "No problem, you almost had it anyway."

"Laney." the girl introduced herself.

"McKenna. People call me McKee though if three syllables is too inconvenient."

"McKee OK. See you tomorrow." And she melted into the crowd abruptly.

The next two classes, math and physiology, went almost about the same. Still comforting as it followed the same pattern and rules every transfer had. Almost relieved, McKenna had no partner in physiology and could work as fast as she wanted. Before lunch she had a free period and she was to visit the counselor to decide what to do with the remaining periods she had to fill.

The soft spoken lady with obvious OCD kept glancing at her with a nervous smile, as if mentally taking note of every surface McKee was touching.

"So you have four required classes and three open right McKenna?"

"Yes ." McKenna confirmed.

"And you've gotten most of your graduation requirements from online and night college courses. That is ambitious."

"Benefits of being a army brat is spare time and cheap school."

Ms. Pillsbury only smiled graciously, brushing at her red hair repetitively.

"So you'll be with us for the remainder of the year?" she moved on.

"Yes. Unless we get invaded or something then the army kinda takes liberties." McKenna tried to joke.

"Oh." Ms. Pillsbury said with an unsure smile. "Well it looks like you're all set but William McKinley requires you to be involved in so many hours of extra curricular activities along with your electives. What are some things you like to do? Sports? Music?"

McKenna sighed, "Um I like soccer, I play some instruments and sing a little."

Ms. Pillsbury's face lit up. "Sing? On you'll have to talk to Mr. Scheuster he's our glee club director and he's always looking for new members. They just won Regionals last year actually and if they do as well again this year they go to nationals in New York."

McKenna tried not to cringe and put on a half smile. "Oh cool."

Writing furiously, Ms. Pillsbury wrote down a list of classrooms and names then handed it to her. "You're welcome to go sit in on some of these classes and speak to the teachers. Oh and those pants, I think they're border lining our dress code so please go over that. Welcome to McKinley High." she offered McKenna a hand which she took, then Ms. Pillsbury lathered her hands in sanitizer as the girl left.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not claim or have any affiliation with the references and characters of Glee. This fan fiction was not intended for any personal gain, only for entertainment purposes and fan appreciation. All characters and references of Glee belong to Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation etc. Also I do not claim any other references to pop-culture including references to 'Les Mis'. **

Sitting on the top of the waterfall of stairs leading down into the commons, McKenna arched her back, letting the sunlight warm it. From here she could see the mixing of the students as they interacted with each other. She told herself it wasn't creepy to observe, she was just a people watcher. It was interesting to see their actions and imagine what they were thinking.

She recognized the group of cheerleaders talking to two letter-man jacketed, husky guys. The girls would burst out in loud fits of giggles, drawing the attention of those around them which was probably the whole point of their elevated voices.

At another table she had found Laney sitting with a couple of other kids, she had what looked like a clarinet case on the table by her which made McKenna think she might see her when she visited the band room at the next period.

With sudden force, the brim of her hat was pushed down over her eyes and she squawked.

"Thanks so much Torri." She tipped her hat back up as he sat down next to her. She opened her sandwich bag and began to eat. "So how'd it go?" she asked him.

He sank his teeth into an apple and showed her his hand. Two girl's names with numbers had been written in pen on his forearm, one after the other.

"Oh gosh. Already? If the list gets all the way up to your shoulder I'm not driving you to the hospital for ink poisoning." she shook her head, trying to hide a smile.

He shrugged. McKenna wasn't surprised, her brother had a personality that just drew people to him and the biggest clincher was that he was a truly genuinely nice guy. His crazy good looks didn't help anything either. McKenna supposed she wasn't that bad herself but it was amazing what a weird outfit and quick witted tongue could do to repel the average guy.

"You got nothing?" he asked, almost gloating.

She grinned and shook her head.

"Good," he said, "I didn't want to get someone's blood on my shirt today."

"I think I'll ease into any social situations this time. I did get a bit of a collateral slushie strike though." She pointed out the now-pink stains on her shirt. "They were going for that girl down there in the 'I heart NY' shirt. She was wearing a bow-tie sweater and plaid skirt earlier though."

The girl was sitting at a table at the bottom of the stairs talking to a boy dressed in tight red pants and some sort of designer jacket.

Torri nodded, "I can shushie you if you feel left out." He offered helpfully.

She laughed at that and they continued to eat.

Suddenly there was music echoing through the commons and several other boys and girls appeared out of nowhere, all wearing the 'I heart NY' shirt and singing and dancing. McKenna and Torri just watched in mid chew. It was like one of those flash mobs, no, a flash musical.

The kids were actually pretty talented but it seemed the whole crowd witnessing it was having a problem getting past the shock value.

"Is that guy in the wheelchair rapping?" McKenna managed to ask quietly with impressed curiosity.

"I think he...no, like, 4 of the guys down there are on the football team." Torri apparently thought it would answer her question in some irrational way.

After some elaborate choreography and a Broadway class ending the performers froze, the pride and expectation clear on their flushed faces. The absent applause, almost rejection, was given in cold silence and the crowd began to go back to their lunches awkwardly.

Torri and McKenna looked at each other.

"I think this is going to be an interesting year." McKenna tried to speculate regally.

Torri raised his eyebrows and went back to eating. McKenna looked back at the mulling singers, they were clearly surprised at the lack of reception, scanning the crowd in disappointment. McKenna counted 13 singers in all. The Asian girl was in her PE class that she was hoping to opt out for soccer just before lunch. She didn't recognize anyone else but the slushie girl.

Very interesting.

The lunch hour went fast after that and she left to go to the band room. Laney was indeed there and she smiled quickly when she saw McKenna come into the room. Waving McKenna walked up to the female band teacher and they chatted for a moment.

"You do play an instrument?"

"I can do a little piano. Drums. My brother taught me. But I can try to pick up something else if you need it." McKenna offered.

The teacher shrugged, "We do have a couple guys on drums but the more the merrier. In the meantime, what about double bass? You're a little small, do you think you can hold it up?"

Her name was Mrs. Winkleman and McKenna was beginning to really like her.

McKenna nodded and the woman smiled. "I'll show you the basics at the end of class. Can you sit tight until then?"

"Yep. Thanks a lot."

McKenna went to sit down in the top row behind the rest of the kids but Laney called her over. With a plop she sat down and Laney introduced her to the boy sitting next to her.

"This is Jack, he's first chair violin and a really good jazz pianist."

They nodded to each other.

"Sorry I had to run off after class McKee, I was supposed to help Coach Sylvester with some of the pyrotechnics for her Cherrios practice today and she doesn't like it when I'm late." Laney smiled.

"Oh! Fire, fun." McKenna tried to tone down her enthusiasm but the other two just laughed at her.

Mrs. Winkleman was passing out music in large packets around to the 27 students there in the orchestra.

"So where are you from McKee?" Jack said the name like 'Mickey'. McKenna had fought that most of her life as she wasn't a huge Mouse fan but by now she had given up and was fingering through the music.

"Pretty much everywhere, my Dad's been in the army my whole life."

By then the director was back up at the front calling for attention. "OK. That is not the music for the whole year, it is for 'Les Mis'. Also for those of you accompanying Glee music come get their selections so far after class."

The class practiced in their different sections for most of the time. With about 10 minutes until the bell, Mrs. Winkleman was having McKee pick up the enormous bass and get used to handling it and carrying it. McKenna had to perch up on a stool and learn the position of the fingers and try to situate herself to run the bow smoothly across the strings.

By then the mix of classes had begun and Laney and Jack had left with a wave.

Ms. Winkleman had said since McKenna didn't have any plans that day of what final class she would take, she could stay there and practice and get extra credit for music.

A man with curly blonde hair and a friendly face walked in as Ms. Winkleman was going out.

"You're in the auditorium today right?" she asked him.

"Yeah we're doing some choreography stuff for some numbers." He opened a cupboard door pulling out some papers.

"Good." said Mrs. Winkleman. "I just have a student who was going to use the room to practice for 6th."

The man who couldn't be more than 35 nodded without looking up.

"Of course. Um if any of the Glee club come in here looking lost, would you tell them we're in the auditorium?" he called over to McKenna who replied, "Sure."

Mrs. Winkleman left just as the boy in the wheelchair rolled in, almost running over the man's foot.

"Sorry . Mr. Scheu, do you need any help?"

"No I got it Artie. Lets go."

And they went back out into the flow of the hall. McKenna went back to her awkward plucking, making a mental note to watch a bunch of Youtube on bass players.

Two girls in Cheerio's uniforms walked into the room smiling and talking. One of them was a tall blonde with wide eyes and the other a fiery looking Latina. Both had high pony tales that swished as they turned their heads.

The blonde one looked around the room in confusion. "Oh no, Mr. Scheu isn't here. I think he had to move to Canada for that black market sweater-vest smuggling thing I was telling you about." she said with a completely serious face.

McKenna spoke up, surprising them both as they hadn't seen her in the corner. "Hey guys, he's in the audi..."

The other girl cut her off, "Auditorium. Oh yeah I forgot." she finished, looking narrowly at McKenna and turned to pull the other girl out who was smiling in interest at her.

The bell signaling the start of the last class of the day rang without McKenna being disturbed.

Her fingers and hands were beginning to cramp but she thought she was starting to get the hang of the technique. In the music they were doing, it didn't require any acrobatics on her part so she was feeling confident this would work.

About five minutes later a boy with pale blonde hair that fell to his eyes turned in through the door. McKenna looked up as he noticed her and gave a quick smile. His prominent mouth intriguing focus but still he was definitely attractive. She recognized him from the spectacle at the common area.

"Um, if you're in glee they said you're meeting in the auditorium." she said, looking back at her fingering.

"Yeah thanks, I know. Just getting my guitar." he pointed to a guitar case on the floor by the wall.

"Right sorry." McKenna said.

The boy had picked up the case and was starting towards the door and looked back over at her.

"That's a whole lot of bass." he grinned.

McKenna let out a laugh and nodded, "Yeah, it will be a fight to the death but I'm confident I shall prevail."

The boy kept his grin but scrunched up his face at the cheesiness and turned to go out the door.

"Nice pants." he called back as he left.

McKenna went back to practicing but kept a half smile on her face.

The final bell rang and McKenna had the instrument put away and practically bolted out the door, heading for the nearest exit.

The building crowd was now far from her mind as she could only think of one thing. Going home. Out into the bright sunlight she oriented herself and turned to the parking lot and started the long walk to the car. Other kids pulled out with the same enthusiasm, freed from their temporary incarceration, almost running into each other in the process.

There had been no major blunders that had happened in the day so McKenna thought she could chalk this day up to success then she groaned as she remembered what Torri had said about staying after for football practice. That could take hours! She sighed and turned back to the high school, dragging her feet once again. The smiling faces of the other students as they passed her going to their freedom made her jealous. Thankfully, she had the attention span of a peanut so the gloomy mood was forgotten and she was almost cheerful as she thought of finding the art dept.

As soon as she stepped into the room, she knew she would make it her final class. The smell of the paints, mediums and other materials was familiar and comfortable. A teacher came out from a back room and McKenna introduced herself explaining her situation. Soon she was happily planning make up projects, completely oblivious to the rest of the planet.

Three hours later, stiff hands but glowing face, she was leaning over a large paper sketching when the jump-start came. Practically falling off her stool she looked back at Torri who caught her arm, steadying her.

"You jerk!" she went to swat at him but he caught her hand.

"Hey watch the pencil. I could press charges." he laughed.

"Dead men don't talk!" she threatened him. "I know exactly where I'd stash the body. In the library with one of those teen vampire books opened. Even if you started to stink more than you do, no one would even notice you're dead for months!"

He looked freshly showered and glowing. He obviously had a good day at practice.

Almost reading her mind he nodded. "Yep on the team. I think I gave the quarterback a run for his dinero! But they have me on as a receiver right now."

"Great, I'll help you practice by throwing a tennis ball at you in the back yard and call you Spot. I've always wanted a pet." She turned back to her sketch.

He looked down at her drawing and said, "You're going to do it huh? You've decided to hermit up in here again. Total relapse."

Shrugging McKenna said, "If it's my final year, why not? I like it."

"Mom and Dad want you out doing stuff McKee. Interacting."

She turned to him. "Look I'm doing soccer and band, I even almost have a friend or two. I've been interacting! It's been an interacting frenzy!"

Torri smiled at this, glancing back to the sketch, "That's pretty nebulous. Come on I'm starving."

"Nebulous, I'm impressed! Now we just have to teach you to sit in a chair."

As they were walking through the eerily empty halls they heard music echoing.

"Sounds like...Journey." Torri strained to hear.

Shaking her head McKenna corrected him. "Sounds like glee."


End file.
